As an information society has advanced, information processing apparatuses that process a large amount of information at high speed become more important. A rack in such an information processing apparatus accommodates substrates each of which includes electronic components such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) and a memory mounted thereon, and Power Supply Units (PSUs) that supply electric power to the substrates.
In the rack of the information processing apparatus, power distribution units that distribute electric power to the respective PSUs are disposed. Each power distribution unit includes outlets (plug sockets) in which plugs disposed at ends of power cables of the PSUs are put, and overcurrent protection devices (breakers) that restrain overcurrent from flowing to the respective outlets.
As the performance of the information processing apparatus has improved, the calorific value of the information processing apparatus has increased. When the temperature of the inside of the information processing apparatus exceeds a predetermined allowable upper temperature limit, a problem such as a failure, a malfunction, or a reduction in processing capacity occurs. For this reason, in a typical information processing apparatus, a coolant is circulated through the inside of the rack or air (cold air) is introduced into the rack by using a fan to cool the electronic components.
From the viewpoint of energy savings, the power consumption of the information processing apparatus is preferably decreased. For this reason, it is desirable that the information processing apparatus is more efficiently cooled.
For example, it has been proposed that a duct is disposed on a side of the rack, and air is supplied to the rack from a large number of holes formed in a side surface of the duct to improve cooling efficiency.
An increase in the size of the information processing apparatus enables the cooling efficiency to be relatively easily improved. In this case, however, there is a problem in that a footprint increases.
The following is a reference document.
[Document 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-111300.